File Photo / Tim Greenway
Fathom Cos. President Jim Brady
December 28, 2021
Jim Brady's Fathom Cos. to stay on as Press Hotel operator after sale
Courtesy / Fathom Cos.
With typewriters and similar motifs, the Press Hotel in Portland pays homage to its origins as a newspaper building.
Developer Jim Brady is cashing out without checking out of Portland's Press Hotel after its sale to a San Francisco-based private equity firm for an undisclosed amount, announced on Monday.
Though the boutique establishment is now owned by KHP Capital Partners, Brady's Fathom Cos. will stay on as the hotel's operator and manager, Brady told Mainebiz in a phone interview Monday from Florida.
"We're very excited about the opportunity," he said, "also delighted that we are going to continue being involved in the Press Hotel as operator or manager ... I feel like the Press Hotel is a little bit a part of me, and we pride ourselves on being connected to our community and local area, and that will allow us to continue to that."
Brady, recognized on the Mainebiz Next List in 2017 for his impact on Maine's economy, transformed an Art Deco-era newspaper building into the Press Hotel, which opened in 2015 and is part of the Autograph Collection by Marriott.
"It means we were a franchisee of Marriott, so we get to utilize their whole booking system and Marriott rewards points, so that helps us generate more business travelers," Brady said.
"At the same time, the Autograph Collection is a collection of boutique hotels, each with an individual brand identity localized to the market. We're very fortunate in that the Press Hotel building has such a unique history, and we were able to really play off of that."
That's true not only for the name, which honors the former Portland Press Herald's headquarters, but also for the decor. A wall in the lobby features a hanging typewriter display and the hotel has similar motifs throughout.
'Capital chasing good deals'
As for the decision to sell, Brady said that came about only in the fall.
"Frankly we were waiting to see what the market really was, and the market is very strong," he said. "There's a lot of capital chasing good deals, and the uniqueness of the Press Hotel which really can't be replicated makes it a fairly unique asset from that perspective."
KHP wasn't the only interested suitor, either.
"We had a number of interested bidders, and KHP really to us seemed to be the perfect partner, because they typically own other boutique hotels, so they get who we think we are at the Press Hotel," Brady said. "The fact that they were the right type of owner had a lot to do with our decision to ultimately sell."
KHP, which focuses on hospitality investments in the United States and Canada, is the former owner of Philadelphia's Hotel Monaco, which it owned from October 2010 to March 2018, and Hotel Paloma in Washington, D.C., which it owned from November 2004 to March 2012, according to the firm's website.
About a half a mile from the Press Hotel in downtown Portland, Brady owns a Canopy by Hilton, which opened this summer to a busy season amid staffing issues plaguing the industry as a whole.
"We had a very strong summer," Brady said. "Our biggest challenge was having enough staff and associates to operate the hotel. We had to hire all new people."
Confident of a busy year ahead, he added, "It's really a great product, and we're looking forward to continuing to ramp up in 2022 and years beyond."
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